Thank you for browsing our website! If you have not experienced our parishes in Marcus, Oyens, and Remsen, I cordially invite you to experience our wonderful families and our beautiful Sacraments. If you are in spiritual or material need, please contact me. Perhaps we can help. We are here to serve in the shadow of our Lord and to help you experience His love! At St. Mary's we are blessed to support a Pre-K through 12 Catholic school system that brings great blessings to us and to God's kingdom. May God bless your journey!

The Catholics of the infant town of Remsen first met in 1881 and completed the first St. Mary's Church by the summer of 1885, when it was promptly leveled by a tornado in June of that year. By Christmas of 1885 our hardy ancestors had completed the second St. Mary's Church in time to receive its first resident pastor, Fr. FX Schulte. Fr. Schulte started St. Mary's Schools in the year after his arrival, and brought in the Sisters of St. Francis, who served here for over 110 years, most of them with no pay and no lay assistance.

Our parish and schools came of age as the 20th century dawned. Our high school was phased in starting in 1902. As the Diocese of Sioux City was formed, the present St. Mary's Church was built and dedicated in 1904. All wooden frame buildings in the parish plant were replaced with substantial brick structures in the first decades of the century, and by mid century a state of the art St. Mary's High School was constructed.

St. Mary's Church is a remarkable example of the neo-Gothic style and is historically important in many ways. It has been faithfully and carefully preserved at great cost to our parish, a sacrifice made not only for our families, but for our diocese, our Church, and our nation. We are proud to host tours of our church so please come visit. All who do go away uplifted.

St. Catherine's Parish History

St. Catherine's Church opened in 1900 and until the 1950s had its own school, which is now part of the St. Catherine/St. Mary's School system. Since its inception the parish has held an annual Corpus Christi procession. The church provides an intimate setting for Mass and its parishioners are proud of the parish's deep and spiritual history.  In 2017 this church became an oratory for baptisms/funerals/weddings.

Holy Name Parish and School History

Holy Name Church opened in  1877.  The current church building was constructed in 1915 under the leadership of Father John O'Reilly.  A school and parsonage was also obtained at that time.  The school was open until 1968 when it closed it's doors. In 1957 a convent was completede and the sisters moved into their new quarters.  This convent is currently used for our Family of Faith and youth classes.  A new parsonage was built to the north of the Church in 1992 and has housed numerous Priests since then.  The church has been updated several times and includes two bell towers, beautiful stain glass windows and a remarkable updated organ.